


Portugal

by DopeSolo



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-06
Updated: 2014-03-06
Packaged: 2018-01-14 17:18:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1274650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DopeSolo/pseuds/DopeSolo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A day in Sagres, The End of the World.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Portugal

            She sat on the edge of the rocky outcropping, toes curling on the rough stone underneath her feet. The breeze kicked up and Kelley tucked the stray hair behind her ear, only to have it come loose moments later. She gave up the fight against the wind and let her hair blow in her face and wrapped her arms around her knees. Below her, a few of the girls were at the water's edge, splashing around and kicking up clumps of wet sand.  
  
            Sydney hollered and almost fell over when Pinoe leapt onto her shoulders, demanding a piggyback ride. The two women almost went crashing into the water but Sydney regained her footing and managed to fling Pinoe off her. The blonde stumbled in the sand and laughed, wrapping an arm around the tattooed forward.  
  
            Kelley let out a small smile and let her eyes wander over the rest of the team that had gathered at the beach. HAO, Tobin, Ali, and Mewie was laid out on towels, occupied with either their phones, headphones, books or e-readers, or a combination of anything that would hold their interest. Kelley rested her chin on her forearms and let her eyes close.  
  
           "What're you doing up here by yourself?" A voice asked. Kelley opened her eyes and glanced up, squinting against the sunlight. The figure moved just so until she stood between the sun and Kelley. Kelley smiled up at Hope.   
  
            "Practicing my skills as a gargoyle," Kelley answered easily.  
  
            "I don't think you have enough horns to be one," Hope replied and crossed her arms. The keeper looked down at the women below then let her eyes wander to the ocean and their surrounding landscape. "Or the heavy brow, for that matter."  
  
            "What's up, Solo?"  
  
            Hope glanced down and shook her head. "What makes you think something is wrong?"  
  
            Kelley raised an eyebrow. "Well, you've either been in your room by yourself or out shopping by yourself. All of Instagram is wondering where you are," Kelley smirked. When Hope didn't reply she tilted her head to the side. She reached a hand up and grabbed Hope's hand.  
  
            Their fingers easily interlaced and Kelley gently tugged the keeper down to the spot next to her. Hope mimicked Kelly's pose and brought her knees up to her own chest. The two sat in silence for a while. Kelley knew not to press Hope for answers. She opened the door to conversation, as she had many times before, and now she'd just have to wait and see whether or not the older woman would decide to start talking.  
  
            Hope sighed after a few minutes and started. "He's in jail again."  
  
            Kelley didn't have to ask who he was. She turned to Hope and looked at the keeper. Hope kept her eyes on the horizon and shook her head. "We had this agreement," Hope shook her head and scoffed. "Agreement. As if this were some contract... We had an agreement that if he ended up in jail again then it'd be over."  
            "Over?" Kelley asked.  
  
            "The marriage. I can't keep defending him. I can't keep declining media interviews because of the chances of his latest arrest getting brought up. I can't keep doing this." Hope's shoulders slumped and Kelley never realized that the keeper, who always had such a larger than life presence both physically and emotionally on and off the field could seem so small. "I thought I found what I deserved. I was happy. Even if no one else could see it, I was happy. Now I'm only going to hear people say that they called it. That it wouldn't last. How do they get to be right about this sort of thing?" Hope finally let her blue eyes drop to her clasped hands. She studied the slight tan line around her left hand's ring finger. She rubbed at it with her right thumb.  
  
            Kelley pursed her lips. Her heart ached for this woman. The one person who deserved happiness and like always, got it ripped from her only after she had settled into the idea that she could finally have something good in her life that would last. Kelley brought an arm over Hope's shoulders and pulled the keeper close.  
  
            "I'm sorry, Hope," she said simply. "This sucks."  
  
            Hope scoffed, more at her situation than at Kelley's words. "Yeah. Yeah, it does." She nodded and leaned into the defender.  
  
            "Have you talked to him?" Kelley asked.   
  
            Hope nodded against her shoulder. "He called after he posted bail. Mostly to yell that I didn't pay the bail. Then we argued. A lot. After we hung up I called my lawyer to draw divorce papers."  
  
            Kelley's eyebrows raised. While she personally was never Jerramy's number one fan, even this string of actions seemed rather quick. Then again, nothing about this relationship had gone at a pace slower than lightning fast.   
  
            "He knew this would happen?" Kelley asked.  
  
            "Last time he was arrested, we talked about it. I said it would be the final straw. He said it wouldn't happen again. A few months later and he's back in jail. I'm not getting any younger. I just want a family. A normal life after I retire."  
  
            Kelley leaned back. "Retire? You're not retiring anytime soon are you?" The pitch of her voice raised a few octaves.  
  
            Hope chuckled and shook her head. "Not yet. But I'm in my 30s. I have to start planning for the future. You're not getting rid of me yet, KO."  
  
            Kelley let out a sigh of relief.  The idea of Hope not being behind her covering her and the rest of the team's ass scared her more than it should have. The idea of Hope settling down for good worried her even more. It made her stomach clench. When she heard that Hope and Jerramy were getting married, it was like Kelley had been sucker punched and then kicked when she was down. It was a fairly well kept secret that the defender had developed what Tobin and Alex had claimed was a mixture of hero-worship turned schoolgirl crush turned full-on infatuation. The two would always good-naturedly tease Kelley about it and would only let up when Kelley's face turned a bright shade of red or if someone else was in hearing distance.  
  
            Kelley licked her lips, tongue catching a single grain of sand that had somehow found its way onto her dry lips. "Well, at least I have you for a few more years then."  
  
            "And then what?" Hope asked, blue eyes searching brown.  
  
            If Kelley had read into it more, which she tried to never do when it came to Hope, she'd almost let herself think that Hope wasn't asking about her replacement. Hope had that look in her eyes. It was that mostly-veiled look of vulnerability. Of honesty. She had seen it only when the two were alone. The most memorable being after the two had come back to their room in the Olympic Village.

            _They had both flopped onto Hope's bed just before dawn, drunk and still on a high from their gold medal win. Hope had pulled Kelley close and looked at her with such affection and pride. Kelley's breath had hitched and her eyes dropped to Hope's lips for a fraction of a second. That was all that Hope needed before she swooped in and captured Kelley's lips in her own.   They had ended up kissing and making out like a couple of high school kids for a while before things calmed down and they just stared at each other, not saying a word. It was then that Kelley noticed that look in Hope's eyes. The look she couldn't quite describe, not even then. Hope took a breath and opened her mouth to say something but something seemed to switch and she clamped her mouth shut.  
_ _Kelley raised her eyebrows, searching Hope's blue eyes for something, anything. She knew Hope was about to say something that would've changed everything. Instead, Hope sighed and brushed a strand of Kelley's hair back behind her ear, said goodnight and placed a soft kiss on Kelley's forehead._

            They didn't talk about it the next morning, or ever again for that matter. Kelley wanted to convince herself that it was a one-time, post-Olympic, momentary brain-lapse. She didn't dare bring it up again because she was too scared to. If she was honest, she was even more terrified of the possible rejection and ensuing awkwardness. So she left it alone. They remained close friends.  
  
            And because of that, at this moment in time, Kelley opted for a safe answer instead of saying something that could open the floodgates to something she wasn't sure she could handle even after all this time.  
  
            "And then we try and find a keeper that's half as good as you. And of course I'll be stopping to visit when I'm in your hood."  
  
            Hope's eyes studied Kelley's face for a moment and Kelley kept her smile up. Hope blinked then turned her gaze to their teammates. The women were now doubled over in laughter watching Syd try her luck at boogie boarding. She let out a frustrated yell and tried to throw the board away from her. It caught a small wave and dropped only three feet from her, much to the amusement of everyone else.  
  
            "I should've just married you, Kel." Hope quietly said. Kelley's eyes snapped from Syd to Hope but the brunette kept her eyes on the women below them.  
  
            What the hell did she just say?  
  
            "Huh?" Kelley asked. Real eloquent.  
  
            Hope smiled and turned to Kelley. "You'd probably be a better spouse than anyone else. You're always there for me."  
  
            Kelley swallowed. Her head was swimming. "Huh?" Again with the eloquence.  
  
            Hope nudged Kelley with her shoulder, eyes taking in Kelley's face as it shifted into a bright shade of red. "Maybe I'll come up with a better proposal someday."  
  
            Kelley grinned, regaining a bit of her composure. Of course Hope wasn't being serious. But if she was joking around now and not as upset as she was earlier, then Kelley could roll with it. It was all about Hope's happiness after all.  
  
            "It better be extravagant," Kelley said.  
  
            Hope raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"  
  
            Kelley nodded. "You're Hope Solo. You can do extravagant. Does Seiko do wedding bands?"  
  
            Hope chuckled and clambered up to her feet. "We can get Hers and Hers watches, I'm sure." She held out a hand and pulled Kelley up with her. Kelley slipped on her sneakers, keeping a hand on Hope's forearm for balance. It'd be a shame to topple off the small cliff only moments after making proposal demands.  
  
            "Will they let me be in the promo photo shoot?"  
  
            "Don't push your luck," Hope warned, smile playing at her lips.   
  
            She reached for Kelley's hand again and led the two away from the edge and back toward the sandier area of the beach and followed a small path to the sidewalk that would lead them back into town. It was a rare thing for Hope to be this physical, be it in public or in the safety of a hotel room. She didn't do PDA - not that this was any sort of romantic affection, Kelley reminded herself. But still. It was a very not-Hope situation to be part of.  
  
            Instead of making a big deal out of it - not that it was because _that_ would definitely make things weird. She didn't need to Hope would build up another wall or two just because she couldn't take a simple gesture in stride. Of course, the comfortable silence allowed the defender's thoughts to wander. She tried to ignore how extremely well her hand fit into Hope's and did her best to not focus on the fact that the last time they held hands, they were in Hope's bed, gold medals clanging together as they pressed against one another.

            They walked aimlessly, taking a left here, a right there, sneakers shuffling along the cobblestone roads. Once they were deeper into the small town, the small buildings provided enough of a wind buffer so that Kelley could stop trying to tuck in her hair every three seconds. In fact, this whole area of town seemed calmer which is what Hope seemed to subconsciously want when she nudged Kelley with a gentle hip bump toward a bright yellow-painted building.  
  
            Kelley led them to a small table on the patio of the cafe and within minutes, a server had brought their drinks. Lattes for the both of them. Hope sat back in her chair, clearly more at ease now than she had been at any other point since arriving in Portugal. Kelley reached into the pocket of her pants and produced her phone. She aimed it at the coffee mugs.  
  
            "C'mere," Hope said just before Kelley was about to snap a photo. Kelley scooted around to the empty chair next to Hope's and sat down. Hope reached across the table and pulled Kelley's mug over. She wrapped an arm around Kelley's shoulder and pulled her in. With her free hand, she snagged Kelley's phone and held it out away from the two of them.    
  
            Kelley held her mug up and the two grinned into the camera. Hope handed Kelley the phone and reached for her coffee. "There," she said and took a sip. She licked a bit of foam from her lips. "Now you can post that and put the Instagram kids' worries to rest."   
  
            Kelley tapped in a caption and sent it off. She set her phone down and took a drink of her own coffee. Hope's arm was still around her shoulders and Kelley was more than okay with that.  
            "This day turned out better than I expected," Hope murmured.  
  
            "Is that your way of saying thank you?" Kelley smirked and gently dug her elbow into Hope's side. The keeper squirmed.  
  
            "Well, not anymore," Hope huffed and turned her head away.  
  
              Kelley grabbed Hope's hand before the keeper was able to pull it away from her shoulder. Hope only half-heartedly tried to tug it free but gave up after a few seconds. Kelley kept her hand enclosed over the top of Hope's, keeping Hope's left hand sandwiched between her collar-bone and her small hand.  
  
            Kelley felt Hope's lips on the top of her head. "Thanks, KO."  
  
            "Anytime, Solo."  

**Author's Note:**

> Dig it? Maybe I'll continue it through the Algarve Cup. Assuming my attention span can last that long.


End file.
